Lafayette man will earn the Carnegie Medal for saving children from a fire

Lafayette, Indiana – The Carnegie Medal, the highest award for citizen bravery in North America, will be given to a Hoosier hero who was credited with saving three children from a Lafayette home that was on fire last summer.

The Carnegie Hero Fund honors 15 people in its first statement of 2023, including Nicholas Bostic of Indiana.

Carnegie uses the example of a 25-year-old pizza delivery worker who observed a burning house while traveling home. Bostic discovered an 18-year-old lady inside the home with two 13-year-old females, a toddler, and two more children.

He then went back to the burning house to find the 6-year-old daughter who was still there. Bostic searched for the girl after hearing her cries as the situation grew worse. Bostic punched through an upstairs bedroom window and leaped through with the girl in his arms to escape the fire.

According to officials, Bostic was hospitalized for three days after experiencing smoke inhalation, first- and second-degree burns, and a severe laceration to his arm. The girl’s leg was hurt by the broken glass, but she made a full recovery.

In the United States and Canada, the Carnegie Medal is awarded to people who put their lives in grave danger in order to save or try to save the lives of others. In total, 10,355 people have received the medal since the Carnegie Hero Fund was established in 1904.

Each beneficiary will get a cash grant, or their survivors will. In the 119 years since industrialist-philanthropist, Andrew Carnegie established the fund, more than $44 million has been donated in the form of one-time awards, scholarship aid, funeral payments, and ongoing assistance, according to Carnegie.